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A Weird Bottle, A Postage Stamp of a Label, A Big Mouth, A Screw Cap, and A Very Likeable Red Bordeaux: Francis Coppola Encyclopedia Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

At first, you can't wrap your mind around the "Erlenmeyer flask" shaped bottle and the other non-standard elements. Then you think, this must be a clever juxtaposition. Weird bottle, un-weird wine. No one would go to this length to draw attention to bad wine. Then you think, this isn't a wine to lay down, because you can't fit it in your wine rack. Good thing, because who wants to wait? What if you never get around to drinking it? It's better to drink wine, than to continually have to dust it.

The Coppola Companies latest concept wine is Encyclopedia. Now in the top 20 wine companies (ranking by case volume), Coppola is keen to get on, to offer more wines from more regions. The Encyclopedia concept is focused on unearthing wines that truly represent their regions. It appears Coppola isn't afraid to look different (on the outside), if it gets people to try what's inside. It's risky business I suppose. The wine inside better be excellent, and truly represent its region.

Encyclopedia Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 does it. You get plenty of black cherry from start to finish, nice complexity from overtones of herbs and mild oak spice, balanced soft tannins, and a very smooth, some might say elegant, texture. This isn't a monster Cab, rather, it's a very approachable Bordeaux that happens to be a Cab. The alcohol content is less than most California Cabernets. The fruit comes across like preserves. There aren't any rough edges. The finish evolves a restrained hint of vanilla and goes dusty dry as it should. This is a cut above expectations for an under-$15 Bordeaux.

This Cab turned out to be a great match for flank steak; medium-rare, dry-rubbed, pan-seared, grass-fed beef. It didn't overpower the rub, a nice aromatic combination of herbs and spices I probably could never repeat.

Price: $13 (Nashville). Alcohol content: 12.5%. Closure: Screw cap.

Château Candale Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2005

Wine making dates back 1800 years in Saint-Emilion, yet there seems to be plenty of controversy these days about the wine from here. Who are the top chateaux and who are not? This is the subject of a 2006 classification and more recently, a contrary court ruling earlier this year. Then, there is continuing talk about garagistes, rogue vintners who are known to make wine "out of a garage", willing to clash with gustatory traditions, and not shy about their asking prices.

Chateau De Candale is the second Adams French Vineyards 2005 Bordeaux I've tasted and reviewed here on Winewaves. I like Ch. Lagarosse, and I like Candale even more. In describing this wine, start at the end and work your way back to the beginning. The finish is lengthy and grows on you, and that's what you're probably looking for when spending $35 for a bottle. In this price range, length counts. The fruit eventually disappears, but the rocks stay on your tongue more than long enough to text your friends about it.

This is not an overly alcoholic wine, nor is it a fruit bomb. This is a fruit symphony in a major key, performed in such a way to make you stop and listen, an arresting presentation. There is a modernity to the way you are moved by this wine, a sense that the credit isn't all due to the grapes and the soil they spring from. Can you taste the conductor of this symphony?

Working back to the beginning, the texture is polished, and the flavors are layered. You taste a wealth of cherry and red berry flavors, from tart juice to dried fruit, demonstrating excellent balance, This comes on the heels of beautiful perfumed aromas of cherries, red currants, gentle cinnamon-like spice and a number of other essences that together bring to mind fine aged bourbon whiskey. There is a slight haze to the dark ruby color.

The blend is 80/20 Merlot/Cabernet Franc. Aging was 20+ months in reportedly all new French oak barrels. Less than 800 cases were produced.

Robert Parker says Saint-Emilion rates 99 points for the 2005 vintage. Most people will be looking for the big names that can be cellared for years or even decades. Here is a sensational buy for those like myself who are less patient and want to know what all the buzz is about now.

Price: $35 (Nashville). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13.5%.

Château Lagarosse Premières Côtes De Bordeaux 2005

The 1980's were a good time to be discovering wine. Napa was just beginning to focus on the classic worldly varietals and turn out competitive product. (And there were no traffic jams or limousines to interfere with your quest.)  Washington State was in the hands of Mom and Pops, just a curiosity. No one had heard of Merlot. Riesling was important. And the old world was where the sophistication was. Back then, for the average American, wine was just beginning to transition from Mateus, Lancer's and Boone's Farm, to Bordeaux, Spätlese, Mondavi, and Lytton Springs. Robert Parker struck a chord with his book about Bordeaux, touting the 1982 vintage and whetting everyone's appetite. You could actually buy a label that said Pauillac, Margaux, Graves, St-Julien or St-Estèphe, starting at less than $20. Once upon a time, I bought this respectable Pauillac, Château Batailley 1982, for under $16.

Now, when someone who is the age I was in 1985, comes into the store looking to buy a Bordeaux, curious, wanting to know the differences between the left and right banks, they usually go away empty handed. For $20, you just can't buy a label from a well known appellation. You have to pony up $50 and up, or look to the suburbs of Bordeaux, so to speak. Neither is all that satisfying an alternative. Your research begs you to compare a Pauillac to a Pomerol, to see the what difference the soil, the grape and the proximity to the river makes, but you question if that knowledge is worth a couple of hundred dollars.

Still there are bargains to be had, if you can look past the old world to the new, and Château Lagarosse is on that list. "A group of American investors", called Adams French Vineyards, purchased and have been renovating a group of Château to create a solid portfolio of approachable Bordeaux. The well-known and already well-exposed Michel Rolland is part of the management team of this endeavor, and he is putting his stamp on each bottle.

Château Lagarosse is located in Premières Côtes De Bordeaux, which is south of the high end appellations, but not too far from Saint-Èmilion. Château Lagarosse is chiefly Merlot, as you might expect. The exact blend is listed as 80% Merlot, with 10% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. This is Merlot with a French twist, a decidedly bigger personality than the typical California Merlot. At the finish line, this is Merlot that engenders respect for Merlot.

Expect a very aromatic nose, big on berries and almost candy-like, with flavors that run deeper, more towards cassis, black cherry and lots of rocks. Bordeaux wines run the gamut of styles, and some are really over my head. This one is nicely heady, makes you think, but stays accessible. There is plenty of tannic structure there. Robert Parker has assessed the 2005 vintage in Bordeaux with an overall 95 rating, one of the best in recent times. This wine is a testament to the quality of the vintage. You could probably even cellar it a while, but don't forget about it!

Price: $16 (Nashville). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13.5%.

Clarence Dillon Clarendelle Red Bordeaux 2003

A friend once gifted me a bottle of 1989 Haut-Brion and I must admit it was over my head, aristocratic, too complex for words, and at up to $1000/bottle I certainly couldn't have afforded it. Very recently, another friend gifted me this lovely bottle related to Haut-Brion, and this one really fits.

Prince Robert of Luxembourg has gone modern while paying due homage to his great-grandfather Clarence Dillon by introducing his line of negociant Bordeaux wines. The name Clarendelle derives from the name Clarence Dillon and the term Claret, with a nod to the femininity of its native France.

Clarence Dillon Clarendelle Red Bordeaux 2003 is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Excellent value ($20). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13%.

Style: Complex, new and old worldly, lightly floral, and elegantly fruity.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep ruby with a purple edge, translucent. Aromas: Intense black cherry, black currant and berry, vanilla, floral notes and hints of cedar. Medium-bodied and well-structured with low to moderate acidity, the red to black fruit, cocoa and cedary notes finish with gravelly minerality.

Comment: Prince Robert is spot on with this consumer-friendly Bordeaux. Pair it with a rich pasta dish.

Château Anglade-Bellevue Premières Côtes De Blaye Red Bordeaux 2000

Right bank, left bank; how do you find a good red Bordeaux that won't break the bank?  Trust the taste buds of a professional like Matt Francke at San Diego Wine Company who picked this Côtes De Blaye from a river of labels. Go with a good vintage like the superb 2000 if you can find it.

The Côtes De Blaye area became an official controlled appellation area (AOC) 70 years ago, then was modified 12 years ago, so it is a relatively new AOC.  The area is situated around Anglade and Générac is on the right bank of the Gironde River, north of those more familiar areas Pomerol and St-Émilion.  More importantly the prices for wines from here are very modest in comparison to those familiar areas to the south.

Merlot is the chief grape in Côtes De Blaye (the first coasts of Blaye) just like in the swankier neighborhoods to the south.  The climate is perhaps a bit less taken to hot spells being further north and closer to the sea. Overly jammy wines are not born here. You might even think Anglade Merlot tastes like Cabernet as it leans to the black side as opposed to the red and it is not as soft as a lot of Merlot.

Château Anglade-Bellevue is a family business, begun in 1953 by Michel Mège and his wife. For years Mège sold his fruit exclusively, but his sons Alain and Bruno had different ideas, wishing to make their own wine from the family vineyards. In 1993 they began putting out their own label using modern methods coupled with tradition. They mechanically harvest about 75 acres of vines in Anglade, 85% Merlot, from their vineyards overlooking the Gironde.

Château Anglade-Bellevue Côtes De Blaye Red is 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented in stainless steel. The best lots were aged in oak barrels for 12 months.  Further aging took place in large neutral vats and then in the bottle. Typically only a small fraction of the lots make the cut and eventually wear the Anglade-Bellevue label for export to the USA.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep ruby with purple bubbles at the edge, semi-opaque.  Aromas: Blackcurrant/black cherry, violets, mocha, cedar and fennel seed. On the tongue, the body is medium, nicely tart with moderate fine textured earthy tannins. The palate is elegant with cassis liqueur, supported by toffee, neutral oak spice, roasted red pepper and dusty earth flavors, and a finish that begs for food.

Outstanding value ($10).   Closure: Real cork.   Alcohol content: 12.5%.

Food pairing ideas: Cheese plate, Freshly prepared beef vegetable soup.

Chateau du Beau Vallon Saint-Emilion 2000

Imported by The House of Burgundy, this is right-bank Bordeaux, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. 

Right Bank Bordeaux typically contain more Merlot. The color is a semi-opaque cranberry, and the aromas are dominated by cherry and raspberry (light for a Bordeaux, but very nice), plus a touch of oak. The palate is soft yet vibrant (mature), with smooth tannins and a finish that's ready to drink. The closure is a genuine cork. The $19 price (Nashville) is reasonable for an Estate Bottled 2000 Saint-Emilion. Buying red Bordeaux is tricky, but if you're looking for a good one to drink now, one that California-only-red-drinkers will also like, try this one.

Chateau Malbat Bordeaux Red 2003

This red Bordeaux just arrived, imported by International Gourmet Corp. For a $10 red Bordeaux, this one could be a good house wine, if you like Bordeaux. It has a modest amount of fruit and tannins. It is simple for a Bordeaux, but drinks well now. The closure is a genuine cork. At $9.99 (Nashville), here is a decent red Bordeaux priced for the typical everyday budget. The Dollar vs. Euro situation has made French wine more expensive recently.